A bibliophile's look at life.

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Why Can’t Real Life Be Like Disney?

I have been away for writing for a couple of weeks due to a family trip to Disney World. I took my kids and grandkids on a week of fun at the Mouse’s house. It was amazing to watch them experiences their fantasy world in real life. The characters, castle and other things that they thought only existed in colorful animation in the movies were right in front of them. My youngest granddaughter is almost two years old so she was a bit small for some of the rides. As a result she and I spent time together sitting in the shade watching people walk by as we enjoyed a cool drink while I fanned her little red face. Disney in June is hot my friend. We saw all sorts of people from all sorts of places speaking all different languages. Everyone was happy and smiling. There were a few screaming temper tantrums from kids and parents who had had enough fun. I am sure they were heading back to the hotel for a swim and an adult beverage, but for the most part everyone looked as happy as the Magic Kingdom promises you will be if you go there. It is a reality like no other I have ever experienced.

One thing that stood out to me was how friendly everyone was there. The workers, sorry cast members were great, but the visitors were too. Perfect strangers would sit down and talk to me like they had known me forever. Is this your first time? Where are you from? I am here with my kids, school group, family reunion, friend’s wedding…..on and on they went. There was no attention paid to where you were from or what you looked like, people were chatting with me and the others sitting watching, eating, resting in the shade. It was so relaxed and comfortable that it was almost eerie.

After a few times of this unusual behavior from strangers I began to giggle. I thought, this must be what haven is like to an extent. No one is a stranger and everyone is happy. Wouldn’t it be grand if we could act this way in real life? Disney has a way of making you feel like you are in one of those happy sing song sort of places that Disney movies are famous for. That feeling relaxes people to the point where some of them put their guard down and become open to strangers. I guess it is the result of the constant fa la la music coming from everywhere, sweet smells of confectionery goodness wafting through the air and the genteel smiles from Cinderella and the other princesses who pass by appearing to float on air in fairy tale gowns. Disney World is truly a kingdom set apart from reality.

If we can be so polite and relaxed there with each other, why is it so hard to be that way in the real world? Wouldn’t this place we have to live in be so much more pleasant if we could just bring that euphoria out of the park with us and bring it back home? What would happen if we tried it, faked our way through and pretended that we could talk to strangers about anything, share happiness the way we talked on Main Street USA at the place where dreams come true?

Society would be a much happier place to be if real life could be like Disney World, even just a little bit.